Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

From the outside looking in, it easy to get Supergirl wrong. She shares much with her more famous cousin: The powerset, the weaknesses, the insignia are all the same, but there is one enormous difference that I feel most of laymen would miss, as its rarely explored in TV or Film.

Kal El’s story is that of an immigrant – he is a product of American mid-west, raised on the ideals of Ma and Pa Kent, with only stories of the old world. It is important to him to know where he came from to complete the hole in his history, but largely his experience of Krypton is second hand (if you ignore all the time travel escapades he’s had). Clark was brought up to believe in the rule of law, and retribution based to rehabilitate.

Kara Zor-El’s story is that of a refugee – She saw the fall of Krypton. She witnessed her world destroyed around her She felt the aftermath. She has memories of a culture and a family now lost to the void. She is technically younger than Clark, but only because her escape module was caught in space-time distortion. Where Kal was days old when he blasted off Krypton, Kara was in her teens. When her pod arrived, Clark was already a man and she was still a girl, lost and alone. Alienated in every sense. Kara follows Kryptonian justice, which goes more into capital punishment than here on Earth.

This lends an edge to her character that when expanded upon is remarkably interesting. She has every right to be traumatised and jaded. Clark believes he can make everything better; Kara believes she needs to make the best of it.

I thought I’d cover this comic due to the recent Warner Brothers announcement that this story will be adapted into a movie. With Gunn and Safran helming the DCU ship and King directly involved, I don’t think they’ll shy away from the grit.

What am I reading? Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, issues 1-8, 2022. Written by Tom King, illustrated by Bilquis Evely, coloured by Matheus Lopes.

What’s it about? Ruthye is a small girl, from a small farm, on a small planet. She’s seeking vengeance for the murder of her father, by the hand of a man named Kerm. Supergirl is also interested in Kerm, after he shot Krypto and made off with her ship. The two travel the galaxy in hunt for the brigand.

What’s good about it? I’m going to start with the art. Evely’s line work and style is phenomenal. It’s so unique and portrays every aspect of the page perfectly: Each planet they visit feels distinct and original, not a minor achievement for a genre full of copy-paste alien vistas. Kara looks amazing. Her face has this 1950’s beauty pageant quality; big windswept hair, dazzling eyes, perfect symmetry, and nearly always unblemished. This lends itself to being a canvas for micro expressions. Her face is very subtle, with little tweaks here and there, some hashing, a wrinkle line, a pull of the mouth or slight closing of the eyes. These little things really help show the struggle within Kara.

The action is also fantastic. There is something to be said for the older comic book techniques, but I find they really do make the page come alive. Flourishes like whoosh strokes, bold onomatopoeia text, or exuberant uses of colour. These turn the page into motion and emotion far more than a photorealistic approach. It is the difference between film frames and photographs. King has a knack for choosing collaborators that value these things.

A criticism often levelled at Tom King is he only writes sad stories about sad people, which on the surface can’t overly be denied. To me, King writes sad stories about complicated people. Its important for art and entertainment to show every side of life. King writes about emotions and scenarios we have all felt or experienced at one point: Mister Miracle (2019) is about feeling trapped and working out what is important in life. The Vision (2017) is about longing to feel alive and defending your own. Strange Adventures (2021) is about fear, duty and finding your limits. This book is about regret, anger and the loss that forges you but does not define you. It is also a space opera romp, so win-win.

Also, I am sold on any story where any of the super-animals appear. Krypto is one of my favourite little concepts in DC. For this to feature Krypto and Comet… big thumbs up.

What did I struggle with? I do really enjoy King’s writing, but Christ there is a lot of it in this book. The central motif of Ruthye’s narration is to see her change. Like seeing her use her own verbose cultural language, into a more rough’n’ready dialect from the influence of Kara and their adventure, but I feel the number of words per page is overkill. Her musings on Supergirl’s motives and emotions can feel a little endless, especially as Evely’s art captures it so well. It is a problem I encounter sometimes with narrator framed comics. I had a real issue with Black Stars Above (2020) for example. I know it is Ruthye’s story, but it feels like I’m being spoon fed, as opposed to seeing her adapt.

Sometimes I’d rather see a page with no inner monologue, letting the art do the heavy lifting, and a single text balloon with “And that’s how it went.” Or words to that affect. I understand why that is limited in the context of the story. It is just a lot for my tired eyes. 

Would I recommend? So far, I haven’t read a King book* I wouldn’t recommend to people. I think each of his stories have something to enjoy at any level, for those who love the medium or for those who simply love a well spun yarn. I don’t like ranking things as I believe it loses the nuance of experience, but for me this would be behind Mister Miracle or Human Target, but not by much.

I need to find more things by Bilquis Evely… I would have wallpaper by her if she did it! Especially if she it paired with Lopes’ colours again for it. I’d have it in every room of the house.

Can’t wait for the film!

*Whenever I write King Book, makes me think of the Discworld’s Mr Tulip.